Peggy McGrath Rockefeller's Engagement Ring by Raymond Yard

This Diamond Engagement Ring belonged to Peggy McGrath Rockefeller. Photo credit: Christie's.   Peggy Rockefeller started life as Peggy McGrath. She lived comfortably with her well-to-do parents in a white colonial-style house in Mount Kisco, New York. Exactly 22 minutes away by car, David Rockefeller lived part-time with his parents on their country estate.  

Romance at Kykuit

Kykuit, the Rockefeller's country estate and mansion, graces the banks of the Hudson River in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The 4,000-acre property served as an escape from their downtown apartment at 740 Park Avenue. In the fall of 1939, David Rockefeller returned from London to Kykuit to work on his dissertation for the London School of Economics. However, David had far more on his mind than his studies. "From the first time I met Peggy, I knew there was something different and compelling about her...So when I returned to New York in the fall of 1939...I wanted to be with her as much as possible and found myself calling her on the phone several times a day," he wrote in his memoirs. {1} They spent many hours at his family's country estate, listening to the player organ, riding horseback, taking long walks through the woods, and picnicking, all the while talking endlessly. {2} They also spent time in the city, waltzing at the Rainbow Room and The St. Regis Roof. {3}  

A Raymond Yard Engagement Ring for Peggy McGrath

As winter 1939 turned to spring 1940, David knew their strong friendship had deepened into something more. So, he withdrew his entire savings of $4,000, and took it to the family jeweler, Raymond Yard. In keeping with his firm's design aesthetics during the late 1930s, Raymond Yard designed a magnificent diamond ring for Peggy. Set in platinum, the engagement ring featured a cut-cornered rectangular step-cut diamond. The diamond was flanked on either side by slender tapered baguette diamonds. The central stone weighed an impressive 5.63 carats and had grade D color and SI1 clarity. David held onto the ring for a bit as he drummed up some courage. Then in June of 1940, in the 16th floor sitting room outside his 740 Park Avenue bedroom, David Rockefeller asked Peggy McGrath to be his wife. {4} He then spent an agonizing 24 hours waiting for her to say yes. Despite the tortured hours of waiting, "Asking Peggy to marry me was the best decision I ever made," he wrote in his memoirs. {5}  

25 Springs & Counting

In celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary, David Rockefeller brought Peggy's engagement ring back to Raymond Yard. The designer added epaulet and triangular-cut diamonds onto the shoulders of the ring. Peggy continued wearing the ring proudly for the next 38 years, until her passing in 1996. This past spring, for the first time ever, Peggy McGrath Rockefeller's engagement ring was put on display as part of the pre-auction events hosted by Christie's. Following David Rockefeller's death in March 2017, the family collaborated with Christie's to realize the couple's final wishes. That their vast collections of art, home furnishings, and jewelry be auctioned off and that the proceeds go to twelve of their favorite charities.  

A Top Performer at Christie's

Though it was the last lot on the block, Peggy's engagement ring may have been among the most important. Daphne Lingon, Head of Jewelry for Christie's in New York, felt the placement of the ring as the last lot was fitting. "This begins their journey in collecting together...It is such a lovely symbol of the couple who are giving back so much," she said. Peggy McGrath Rockefeller's diamond engagement ring by Raymond Yard realized $287,500 during the auction. Overall, the Peggy and David Rockefeller Collection brought in a staggering $853,111,344, all of which will go to the twelve charities selected in advance by Peggy and David.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Rockefeller, David. Memoirs. Random House: 2003. Pages 97-98. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. Gross, Michael. 740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building. Crown/Archetype, 2007. Chapter 15. 5. Rockefeller, 2003. Page 98.